


Survivor

by Xephin



Category: The Yogscast
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-02
Updated: 2014-09-21
Packaged: 2018-01-14 07:29:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1258036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xephin/pseuds/Xephin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Imagine Lalna is trying to create a cure for a serious plague which has affected several villages and has now infected some of the Yogs. Xephos volunteers to be the test subject for the cure (Prompt by yogshipprompts)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I’m not sure how long this story will be, it depends on the feedback. This is just a short prologue before the proper chapters.

It stated slowly. Stories passed through nearby villages of a weird plague that was creeping through Minecraftia until it finally reached a small village bordering the coast.

 

"They said it starts with a cough," one villager whispered to another in concern, moving closer so they were not overheard by the loud crowd around them. "Then it gets worse."

"Worse?" the other gasped, hand moving to cover their mouth as a small child ran past. "How?"

The first villager made a grim face. “That’s when the madness sets in…” He waited until his friend told him to continue. “That’s all I know, they all get quarantined before they can see the other symptoms.”

The other began to tear up at the thought. “Do…do you think it could happen here?”

"No, we have those strange visitors; they seem to keep us from harm."

The two villagers separated and walked their different ways, each worrying about the disease spreading slowly but surely across the nation.

 

Said strange visitor listened from behind the house, frowning deeply. Plague? Madness? He walked back to his base, shaking his head on the way. It couldn’t be true… could it? Even if it was, would it really affect them? 

"Lalna, is that you?" a voice shouted from the mines. Lalna smiled and yelled back a quick, "Yes!" as he grabbed the tools he needed from a nearby chest. 

All thoughts about the supposed plague flew from his brain at the sound of his friend. “I’ll join you in a minute!”

 

A few weeks later, it struck the village. There were no survivors.


	2. Day 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 1 of the mysterious plague.

Day 1:

“The villagers are acting weird,” Xephos mumbled to Lalna absentmindedly as he mined a coal vein. “I heard one cough and then run away screaming…” he trailed off as a large chunk of gold distracted him. Lalna froze.

“Screaming?”

Xephos hummed in confirmation. “The others seem twitchy. Do you think we’ve done something to upset them?”

“No…”

“Because they are our neighbours and it would be bad if we had.” Xephos stopped mining and leant against the wall. “Maybe we should check on them? See if they need anything?”

Lalna didn’t reply, his head busy with wild theories and deep set worry. “I have to go.”

The spaceman turned around with a frown. “What? Why?”

“I won’t be long, I promise.”

Xephos’ face fell. “But…”

“I’ve left something upstairs…” he lied, walking briskly down the mining tunnel and ignoring Xephos’ shouts to come back. He was the only one who could deal with this correctly; nobody else would be able to fix it if his worst fears were actually true.

A few hours later and Lalna had crafted a homemade gas mask and had locked a panicked testificate in an abandoned house. Books littered the floor from when said villager had tried to escape by tearing everything off the wall. There were scratches in the wooden walls and door that suspiciously looked like claw marks. The villager whimpered as Lalna approached and backed into a wall, raising a bloody hand out in defence.

“Calm down,” Lalna whispered, taking out a small bottle and a syringe. “This will go easier if you let me.”

The villager looked up with glazed eyes that darted everywhere. It growled and swiped at Lalna.

“Fuck!”

The glass bottle was knocked out of his hand and smashed against the wall right next to the crazed villager. Glass embedded itself into the skin of the villager but he didn’t seem to notice, too busy staring intently at the wall. Deciding he best move while the other was distracted, Lalna swiftly closed the distance between them and jabbed the syringe into the villager’s neck. The villager flailed wildly before his body slumped and his eyes drooped shut.

Lalna swore silently under his breath and dragged the unconscious testificate to the centre of the room where he tied its legs and arms together in case it woke up too soon. With a precision that could only come with years of experience, Lalna withdrew another syringe and rolled up the villagers sleeve before plunging the needle in the crook of his arm and withdrawing some blood in one smooth motion. He frowned as it filled the plunger; it wasn’t supposed to be that dark.

“What is this?” Lalna muttered to himself, gently tucking it away in a pocket on the inside of his lab coat.

Suddenly the previously unconscious testificate let out a blood-curdling scream, teeth bared as he tried to lunge at Lalna. Lalna quickly jumped out the way, eyes wide. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for the plague-infected villager.

“I will find a way to fix this, I promise,” he said, though he wasn’t sure if the villager could understand him anymore. His hand rested on the sword resting on his hip, fingers twitching on the handle before turning and leaving the house. He locked the door and placed a note warning what was inside to whoever came across it and left for Baked Bean Fort. Once there, he hid the vial of blood underneath his discarded clothes from a few weeks ago and grabbed an empty book that lay on his messy desk.

“Day one,” he began to write, handwriting neater than normal in case others had to read it. “I took a blood sample from one of the infected. He/She seemed rabid and violent and tried to escape at any cost. Tomorrow will be spent analysing the sample and isolating more infected villagers.”

Lalna sighed and rested his head in his hands. He needed to get to the bottom of this…

And fast.


	3. Day 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Day 1 of Xephna week. (Prompt was Experiment)

_Day 2._

_I have been unable to determine what is causing the strange behaviour of the villagers. The blood test was inconclusive at best and only showed that there was a lower concentration of oxygen and haemoglobin than usual. I suspect that the higher viscosity is caused by dehydration from the unknown disease. Further tests on other samples will -_

"Lalna!"

Lalna's hand jerked and caused a line of pen to ruin the page he was writing on. He swore under his breath at his destroyed work before turning in his chair to face the door.

"Yes, Xephos?"

Xephos strode over and placed a dark red vial on Lalna's desk. Lalna recognised it instantly.

"Oh."

 The spaceman scowled and folded his arms. "Is that all you can say? Oh?" He gestured wildly to the vial of dark blood. "Explain this to me now," he demanded, his eyes not leaving Lalna's.

"It doesn't matter, I've nearly solved this." Lalna muttered, glancing back towards his book. He stood up and tried to hide it with his body as he pushed it into an open drawer. "It's really nothing, Xeph'. Don't worry about it."

Xephos rolled his eyes and stepped closer. "Solved what? I thought we were a team, Lalna! Why are you insistent on hiding this from me?"

"Xeph-" Lalna started but Xephos cut him off.

"Do you not trust me? Do you think I'll mess things up?"

"No, I-" Lalna rushed, trying to explain himself.

"Then tell me!"

 The room descended into silence as both men stared at each other. Without saying a word, Lalna stepped to the side and took the book from the drawer he had shoved it in. He passed it to Xephos and sat back in his chair. Xephos frowned before opening the leather bound book, eyes darting as he scanned the words.

 

"Infected?" Xephos said, almost a whisper. He looked up at Lalna with worried eyes. "Lalna, I don't get it."

"The villagers were talking about a plague that has spread around the land," he sighed. "You said yourself that they were acting weird. Don't you think this would explain why?"

Xephos shook his head and sat down in the spare chair across from Lalna. "I don't want to believe it. Rabid and violent?"

Lalna nodded and ran a hand through his hair. "I didn't want to believe it myself but I couldn't deny what I saw. It was as if they were unable to think straight. The one I tested attacked me."

"Testing? Lalna, you can't-" Xephos said panicked before Lalna cut him off by raising his hand.

"No, not that type of testing. I only took a blood sample." He turned to the vial of blood. "As you know, it wasn't very conclusive."

Xephos nodded and tapped his hand against the wooden arm of the chair. "I want to help."

"Are you sure?" Lalna asked, "It could be dangerous. They are violent after all."

Xephos smiled at Lalna and nodded. "I'm sure. I mean, all science is dangerous, right?"

Lalna laughed. "I guess. Okay, you will need a gas mask." He rummaged through his drawers looking for one.

"Why?" Xephos tilted his head. "The disease is only affecting villagers."

"We can't be too careful," Lalna muttered, handing Xephos his own mask. "You know how to take blood, right?"

Xephos nodded and followed Lalna as gathered his gloves. "You think it can be transferred to people?"

Lalna sighed and leaned against the wall. "I don't know but I know other diseases can be. What would make this one different?"

Xephos walked over to Lalna and brushed his blond hair out of his face. "I'm sure it'll be fine, Lalna," he whispered.

Lalna decided now was as good as a time as any.

 

"Look, Xeph'," he began, reaching out to hold Xephos' hand. "I need to tell you something. Well, you probably already know." He forced out a laugh and squeezed Xephos' hand tighter. "I-"

Suddenly Honeydew walked in, the door creating a large bang as it slammed against the wall, causing Xephos and Lalna to jump apart from each other.

 

"The villagers are fucking crazy!" Honeydew complained, holding his right hand close to his stomach. "I went to trade with one and he attacked me!"

He paused at Xephos' horrified expression. "Xephos? Is something wrong?"

Xephos rushed up and dragged Honeydew to a nearby chair. He forced him to sit down before gently grabbing his arm.

"Oh," Xephos gasped, being very careful while tilting Honeydew's arm to observe the injury. "How bad does it hurt?"

Lalna passed Xephos some alcohol to disinfect the wound and some cloth.

"Not that bad, actually." Honeydew said, wincing when the alcohol was wiped onto his wound. "That, on the other hand, hurts a fucking lot."

Xephos forced a smile. "Better safe than sorry, friend."

Honeydew rolled his eyes. "Anyway, did one of you guys offend them? They really aren't happy."

"What did you do when it attacked you?" Lalna asked, ignoring Honeydew's question. "Is it injured?"

Honeydew shook his head and watched Xephos bandage his arm. "No, I had to kill him. Bugger wouldn't stop attacking, even when I sliced off his arm."

Lalna nodded and frowned. "It's getting worse."

"Worse?" Honeydew flexed his fingers and stretched his arm once Xephos had finished. "What's worse?"

"Xephos will explain. I need to get the body while it's still fresh."

Lalna rushed out of the door before Xephos or Honeydew could say anything, making sure to grab his mask on his way out.

 

"Day 2," he muttered to himself. "I guess today's the day we find out how the disease works internally."

He came to a halt in front of the dead body and hurried to equip his mask. He looked around for a clear house and dragged the body into it. Lalna bolted the door shut so the other villagers wouldn't disturb him and began to pull out his tools.

With a careful precision, Lalna cut a large incision into the stomach of the villager. He gagged as thick, black blood oozed out of the wound and bubbled over the skin. Lalna wiped away the blood and told himself to ignore the smell. He had a job to do.

Inside looked quite normal if not just a tad darker than usual. He removed the intestines and placed them to the side of him and then placed the stomach beside it.

"Nothing," Lalna muttered to himself, inspecting the other organs in the stomach cavity. They were all healthy and intact.

"Onto the lungs."

He was expecting the excess amount of blood this time. He gasped once he cleared away the blood, finally finding evidence of the disease. The lungs were filled with the same think, black blood that flowed through the villagers veins.

Well, at least that's what Lalna thought at first.

His scalpel pieced the left lung and it collapsed, the thick liquid seeping out of the cut. It definitely wasn't blood.

Lalna felt around his lab coat for a piece of paper and a pen.

 

"Day 2: Unidentified black, viscous liquid present in patient's lungs. Other organs seem undamaged, just darker than usual," he muttered as he wrote, his writing messy as he hurried. "Taking another blood sample and a sample of the unidentified liquid. Unable to test the brain due to missing tool to break skull."

 

Lalna sighed and shoved the paper back into his pocket and quickly bottling the liquid. He carefully placed the bottles in his coat and stood up.

"I better contain the infection," Lalna said to himself, looking around for spare books. He grabbed one from a nearby pile and began to rip out the pages. He surrounded the body in paper before pulling out a flint and steel.

"Sorry," he whispered to the body before lighting the paper on fire. Lalna rushed to unbolt the door and ran outside, watching the fire take over the small house. The house was too far from the others to set the village on fire so he didn't have to worry about accidently killing the whole village.

"Not that the disease won't do that anyway."

Lalna shook his head and walked back to the base, throwing open the front door.

 

"Honeydew is in bed," Xephos said, not looking up from his book. "He kept yawning so I forced him to go."

Lalna nodded and walked over to his book to add the page he had written while dissecting the body.

"What did you find out?"

Lalna turned to Xephos and pulled out the bottle of strange, black liquid. "This was in his lungs."

Xephos stood up and gently took the bottle from Lalna. "Do you know what it is?" he asked, carefully tilting the sealed bottle to watch the liquid slowly creep down the sides.

"No idea but I will find out soon."

The spaceman sighed and passed him the bottle back. "Just don't overwork yourself, okay?" He waited for Lalna to nod. "And remember you can come to me for help."

Lalna smiled at Xephos. "Actually I do need your help tomorrow. I need to quarantine the remaining infected villagers so we can slow down the infection. Do you want to help?"

"Of course!" Xephos returned the smile. "You know, you never did finish what you were going to say."

"Say?" Lalna's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

"Before Honeydew got attacked, you were going to say something." Xephos frowned. "Are you okay, Lalna?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm okay." He took in a deep breath. "It doesn't matter anymore," he muttered. Xephos didn't look convinced but he must have decided not to push it because he just nodded and walked away, wishing Lalna a good night.

 

Lalna sighed and carefully placed the bottle on his desk and his lab coat on a hanger. He spent the night wishing many things. He wished he had the guts to tell Xephos how he felt; he wished he had the brains to think of the cure.

 

And most of all, he wished he had the decency to tell Xephos and Honeydew about the incidences of people being infected.


	4. Chapter 4

_Day 3._

_The wound on Honeydew’s hand is not healing correctly even with the stitches. It is almost as if the scar tissue itself is being dissolved from the inside. He says that the wound does not hurt but I have reason to believe otherwise. Honeydew seems healthy though he has been sleeping for longer periods and has not been eating unless Xephos forces him to._

_The villagers have been quarantined and the bodies of the victims have been burned to avoid infecting any others. It’s still not clear how the pathogen is spread, or if it is even a pathogen. Current theories range from the sharing of bodily fluids such as blood and saliva to airborne microbes. Xephos suggests that the fluid in the lungs may infect others as the infected cough or even speak to others. It will be virtually impossible to determine what the exact cause is and so it will be best to take every precaution possible. Nobody is allowed to enter the village without a mask and are not allowed to touch the villagers. As well as this, we’ve begun to search for other sources of water away from the village well. Food from the village is considered to be contaminated and so food quantities are low. I only hope that I can find a cure and fast._

 

_Day 6._

_Honeydew’s condition has deteriorated quickly. He doesn’t remember any of us and refuses to eat. As well as this, he has been having brief episodes of violent behaviour in which he attempts to attack Xephos or me. We’ve considered restraining him but Xephos argues that it’s immoral. I argue that it’s necessary. Xephos doesn’t want to admit that Honeydew may be infected by whatever has infected the villagers._

 

_Day 7._

_Even Xephos can’t deny that Honeydew is infected at this point. We had to sedate Honeydew as he would not calm down no matter what and wouldn’t allow us anywhere near him. After close inspection to his wound, I found the same black liquid that was first found in the lungs of the dissected patient. I think it would be safe to say that this is what spreads the infection._

 

“Lalna, please,” Xephos begged as he placed a hand on Lalna’s shoulder, causing him to pause in his writing. “He will get better, please!”

“I don’t want him to be hurt either, Xeph’!” Lalna huffed, dropping the pen and folding his arms in front of him. “But we have no other choice. You saw the villagers yourself.”

Xephos’ face fell as did his arm. “But Honeydew is a person and-”

“-and he will end up just like them if we don’t act now.” Lalna interrupted Xephos swiftly. “You know that I won’t try to hurt him but we need to do this.” He rose from his seat and rested his hands on Xephos’ shoulders. “Trust me?”

Xephos nodded and stepped out of Lalna’s way. He watched Lalna walk out of the room before following himself. They stopped in front of a bolted door, scratching and howling sounding from the other room. Xephos flinched and Lalna’s heart sunk.

“It’s getting stronger,” Lalna muttered, “he wasn’t this loud this morning.”

The other man glared at him before moving closer to the door. “Honeydew, friend?” Xephos asked softly. “Are you okay?”

The sound of Xephos’ voice seemed to agitate Honeydew more. The pounding on the door got louder and they both stepped back, unsure if the door could hold. Xephos made a sound close to a whimper and Lalna was sure Xephos was close to tears.

“How are we going to do this?” Lalna asked as he watched the other man carefully. “If we just open the door then he’s going to rush out and attack.”

Xephos’ eyes flicked to the ground to avoid Lalna’s gaze.

“Maybe we should wait until he passes out.”

“No,” Lalna studied the door intently. “They don’t sleep much.”

“Well that’s our only option!” Xephos growled. “For someone who wants to help him, you don’t sound very keen.”

Lalna pushed away the hurt feeling at Xephos’ words.

“I am trying, Xephos,” Lalna said calmly and tried to place a hand on Xephos’ shoulder. He just brushed it off like it was nothing. “But we have to think about this logically. If we rush into it then he will attack and when he attacks we may get injured. You and I both know that just one wrongly calculated move would result in either or both of us getting infected. If we’re infected then how can we help?” Lalna's hands tightened into fists by his sides, his voice rose in pitch as he spoke.

Xephos deflated at once.

“I...I’m just worried, okay?” he mumbled, hands wringing together. “We don’t know how to cure this or…”

“Or if it can be cured.” Lalna finished in a low tone.

“Yes.”

They stood in silence, listening to the animalistic noises on the other side of the door. It sounded as if Honeydew had given up on scratching the wooden door and had instead taken to running full speed at it, rattling the door frame and worrying the other men.

"Has..." Xephos' voice trembled in his futile effort not to cry. "Has anyone else been affected?"

Lalna paused as he mentally kicked himself. How could he be so stupid? How could he have overlooked such a crucial detail? His friends could be infected for all he knew. Lalna thought of his apprentice, Nano, snarling and attacking him as Honeydew had attempted to do. He thought about Lomadia coughing up the black, fetid, bile as her body slowly succumbed to the infection. He thought about Sjin and Sips, both blissfully unaware of the danger as they visited a nearby village. He thought of every single person he knew, both friends and foes, and felt dread settle in his heart.

“I...I don’t know,” Lalna finally managed to say, avoiding Xephos’ gaze. “I haven’t had time to visit or warn anyone.”

Xephos nodded.

“Xeph’?” he asked quietly, unsure if he should say what he was about to.”

“Hmm?”

Lalna took a deep breath and moved so he was between Xephos and the door. “We could leave, you know,” he rushed, hands shaking as he spoke. “We have enough rockets and we can easily live on moon base until this blows over and-”

He cut himself off, the look of absolute horror on Xephos’ face telling him that he shouldn’t finish what he was about to say.

“Are you mad?!” Xephos yelled, his face flushed in anger as he took a small step towards Lalna. “Honeydew is...is... _hurt_ and you can only think about yourself!” He took in a shuddering breath and raised his arm to hide his eyes from the other man. His shoulders shook and Lalna resisted the urge to pull the man into a hug. “I thought you were better than that!”

“I am!” Lalna pleaded, eyes flickering to the door. “But Xephos, I don’t know if we can cure him. I don’t want you to get hurt too. We’re both in danger if we stay.”

Xephos shook his head and pushed Lalna out of the way so that he could rest his hand on the door handle. “I’m not leaving him,” he said firmly, his voice cold as he turned his head to glare at Lalna. “But you can leave if staying is too dangerous for you.”  


Lalna frowned and opened his mouth to protest. The look from Xephos caused the words to die in his throat.

“I’ll get the potions,” he said finally, biting his bottom lip as Xephos continued to stare at the door. “Be ready to open the door.”

Lalna wasn’t sure if Xephos had heard him at first but after what seemed like hours, Xephos finally nodded.

“You’ll have to do exactly what I say,” Lalna continued, fully aware that Xephos hated him more and more with each word. “Even if that includes hurting him.”  


“I won’t kill him,” Xephos hissed, his grip on the door handle tightening.

“I won’t ask you to.”

Xephos nodded and Lalna thought it was a good as time as any to grab the potions from his lab.

“Okay,” he panted having ran back from the room. “You know the plan?”

“I open the door. You throw a sleeping potion at him. We tie him up. You force him to drink a potion of weakness. We wait. You feed him a golden apple.” Xephos replied deadpan.

“Xeph’, I’m sorry-”

“Just tell me when to open the door.”

Lalna nodded and stepped back, potion of sleeping already in his hand. He took in a sharp breath to steady his nerves before shouting, “ready!”

The door shot open and Honeydew came barrelling out into the hallway, a crazed look in his eyes. His body twitched as his eyes flickered across the walls before falling onto Lalna. He acted at once, body springing as he lunged at the scientist, hands curled like claws and snarling like a wild wolf. Lalna barely had time to leap out of the way. As he dove, 3 things happened. The first thing was that the bottle that Lalna had been gripping so tightly shattered in his hand, sending hundreds of tiny glass shards into his hand like miniscule knives and causing the potion to fill the air around him. Second was that Honeydew hit the wall with a sickening crunch, whimpering as he collapsed onto the ground surrounded by sticky black bile. He attempted to stand up but his leg wouldn’t hold his weight and so he soon hit the ground again. The third thing, which Lalna barely noticed through the haze of the sleeping potion, was that Xephos was yelling his name. He smiled and tried to reach out to him, finding himself unable to move any of his limbs. He tried to fight the blissful feeling that spread through his body but it was futile. The sleeping potion had never failed before and it wasn’t going to fail this time. Lalna’s last thought was wondering if the haziness was just from the potion or had anything to do with the pool of blood forming under his hand.

  
  



End file.
